Wherein the investigators kill some time before heading back to Arkham

As she wipes the sleeps from her eyes, it occurs to Ivy Morgan that there is a recently translated text waiting for her at Columbia University – the crazy and confused bible she found while exploring Red Hook. She wakes up Jonas and Ray, makes a quick call to her grandfather, and gets the number of Professor Rudolph Pearson. She is delighted to find that his people have completed their work, and that she can pick up the translated text later that morning. After a hearty breakfast, the investigators jump in Jonas’ Packard and drive uptown to the university.

Both Ivy and Jonas are concerned that Ray is still insisting that he is David Malgresh, a botanist from Chicago who is town for a symposium on sustainable food sources. To this point, both have been indulging Ray’s fantasy, although Ivy intermittently attempts to force Ray’s reality upon him, to no avail. As they enter Rudolph Pearson’s office, Ray extends his hand and introduces himself as David Malgresh. Confused, Pearson catches Ivy’s eye and she motions him to his office.

Wherein the investigators get in a New York state of mind

Midnight finds Jonas Markham and Ray Brannigan (currently answering to David Malgresh) sleeping uneasily, while Ivy Morgan keeps watch on the back alley of the Tilden Arms Hotel; hopeful that she and her fellow investigators were not followed from Steeplin County. As the evening slowly passes, Ivy is spelled by Jonas, who sees a car pull in to the alley around three o’clock. It is too dark to see, but Jonas can make out the silhouette of a tall man getting out of the car to put something in the trunk. Running to the front of the room, Jonas places his ear to the door and is able to make out a muffled conversation between the front desk clerk and another man (“Good evening, Ed,” says the front desk clerk). Moments later, heavy footsteps quickly pass outside the door and disappear into silence.

As dawn approaches, Jonas wakes Ray and tells him to keep an eye on the car in the alley. Heeding Jonas’ advice, Ray keeps his eyes peeled out the back window. Shortly before seven o’clock, Ray sees a tall, healthy-looking man approach the vehicle (“A Studebaker, by the looks of it,” Rays says to himself), open the trunk, and take out a long, metal cylinder, which he places in the front seat of the car before driving away.

When Ivy and Jonas wake up, Ray informs them of what he saw on watch. To Ivy and Jonas, the description of the cylinder is eerily familiar – a few weeks before, they came in contact with a similar item while investigating the whereabouts of Effram Harris. The thought of another canister concealing a human brain makes Jonas and Ivy’s skin crawl, but they do their best to shield their distaste from Ray, whose emotionally-fragile state needs no further jarring.

Once awake and alert, the group moves quickly, deciding that it is unwise to stay in Arkham and risk being found by Deputy Grietski. Hoping to be more inconspicuous, Jonas believes it’s best to leave Ivy’s Daimler in Kingsport, and then take Ray’s truck back to New York for the weekend. He hopes that by changing vehicles, the investigators will confuse anyone attempting to follow them.

The group walks to the Phillips 66 station to pick up Ivy’s car, and then make their way back to Kingsport. During the drive, Jonas and Ivy both notice a vehicle following them at a distance. Once in town, however, Jonas is able to lose the trail. In a stroke of egocentric genius, Ivy tells Jonas to drive the Daimler to the police station, where she hopes the smitten Officer Stephen Lord is waiting to help a damsel in distress.

Putting on her lipstick and rouge, Ivy enters the station and finds Officer Lord and his ear-picking partner, Otis White, sitting at opposite sides of a desk. Officer Lord stands from his desk and approaches, hand outstretched.

“Well, Officer Lord,” Ivy begins, “I was hoping that I might be able to leave my car at the police station while I return to New York for the weekend.”

“I don’t see that being a problem,” Lord says. “You can leave it in the garage for the weekend, and pick it up first thing Monday morning.”

“That would be wonderful!” Ivy says, smiling.

“Perhaps you’d consent to join me for a cup of coffee when you return from New York?” Officer Lord adds, smiling back.

“I would like that very much,” Ivy says, looking back at Jonas and Ray, who seem slightly sickened by the ease at which Ivy is able to wrap Office Lord around her finger.

Officer White parks the car in the garage, while Officer Lord drives Ivy to the Shoremist Inn to pick up Ray’s truck. When Ivy returns, Jonas jumps in the driver seat, and the three begin the eight hour trek back to Manhattan.

The drive is uneventful. None of the investigators notice any sign of being followed, and by ten o’clock they pull safely up to Ivy’s Morningside Heights home. After consuming mass quantities of Chinese take-out, the investigators fall asleep well-fed and slightly drunk, feeling safer than they’ve felt in days.

Wherein the investigators realize that strange things are afoot in Steeplin County

The train pulls into the Steeplin Valley station at approximately 12:30am. As they walk off the train, Ivy Morgan, Jonas, and Ray are surprised to find Mr. Booth waiting for them. He states that he was able to make it to the road, where an agent of Mr. DuPont was following the train in case there was trouble. He cautions the investigators that they’re still being followed and that they need to leave immediately. Jonas notices something odd in the way that Mr. Booth is moving, but chalks it up to lingering injuries sustained from being thrown from the train. Ivy, suspicious as always, is not so sure.

The parking lot is dark and empty – a black Buick is the only car in sight. Booth claims that the driver went on foot to the estate to warn Mr. DuPont. He also states that he’s too sore to drive, and sits in the back seat with Ray. Jonas and Ivy walk to the back of the car to load their gear.

In the back seat, Mr. Booth turns to Ray and begins chanting in a language Ray doesn’t understand. As Booth’s hand reaches for Ray’s face, Ray pulls his .45 from his shoulder holster and shoots Booth in the neck. Booth pulls a dagger from inside his coat and slashes Ray across the chest. Ray opens the door and falls from the car, while Jonas aims his rifle through the rear window and fires. Booth’s head explodes, spraying the interior of the vehicle in a viscous green ichor.

Ivy lifts Ray into the car while Jonas pulls the decapitated body from the back seat and drags it to the train tracks. As lights turn on in the houses surrounding the station, the investigators get in the car and flee the scene. They drive up the main street towards the DuPont estate, stopping a few miles up the road to attend to Ray’s wound and discuss their encounter with Mr. Booth. As they contemplate their next move, Jonas notices headlights approaching from the direction of the train station.

Ivy and Jonas, each supporting the injured Ray, grab the statue and head to the tree line and hide behind some bushes. A police car pulls up to the abandoned Buick and someone steps out to survey the scene. The figure approaches the tree lines and speaks in an authoritative tone.

It’s Deputy Grietski. He paces back and forth, repeating himself a few times, before returning to his vehicle. After a few minutes, he starts the car, turns around, and drives back towards the station. The investigators remain in the tree line until the deputy’s car is out of sight, then return to the vehicle and make their way cautiously towards the DuPont estate.

The estate is consumed in darkness. The front entrance is discernible only from the glare of the Buick’s headlamps. As the investigators make their way up the front stairs, Jonas makes out a humanoid figure looking out from one of the upper windows. The front door stands ajar.

They enter cautiously and stumble around looking for a lamp or light switch. Instead, they find a candle on a side table that is able to provide enough light to explore the gigantic front hall. As they approach an ornate staircase, Ray spots muddy footprints heading upstairs. The investigators climb to the second floor, weapons drawn. Jonas hears something shuffle outside of his field of vision. Not sure of what direction the sound came from, they follow the footprints from room to room, noticing that dressers, armoires, and closets appear to have been rifled through.

As they make their way to east wing, they enter a room and behold a grotesque humanoid figure. It stands with its back to the investigators, making a vain attempt to escape through the window. As the light of the candle hits its back, the creature turns to face the group. Its visage is too much for Ray, and he flees the room. Jonas lifts the rifle and shoots – the creature collapses.

Ivy and Jonas meet Ray, who has seemingly gotten over his shock, out in the hall and make their way back downstairs. Following another set of footprints, they walk to a large, closed door at the back of the main hall. As he attempts to open the door, Jonas finds that the way is blocked. Wrenching the door inward with all his might, he is able to push the obstruction out of the way and enter the room.

It is immediately apparent what the obstruction is; a putrid skeletal corpse is slumped in the doorway. A large ragged hole has been blasted in its chest blackening what little flesh is left around the wound. The rest of the corpse is an unnatural greenish color, its long fingers twisted as if suffering from some sort of hellish arthritis. It is naked – its withered genitals exposed.

Ray, already reeling from the encounter upstairs, collapses to the floor, comatose. After taking a moment to check that their comrade is still breathing, Jonas and Ivy enter the study – there is a large, mahogany desk in the room’s center. Before it lays a charred corpse – A faint stream of smoke still slowly drifts from its incinerated remains, although there is no sign as to what has inflicted the assault. Walking around the desk, they find the barely conscious Henry DuPont. He is almost in an as bad a state as the two corpses, his left arm, from the elbow down, is missing and is bleeding heavily. He also has a cut scalp and a serious deep stab wound in his stomach.

From behind them, Jonas and Ivy hear something stirring. Turning around, they see Ray – he gives them a blank stare, looks around the room, and says, “Where am I? What’s going on? Who are you?”

From the floor, Henry DuPont laughs and gurgles blood.

“Excellent…you made it.” he says weakly. “Do you have the statue?”

Ivy kneels down to examine DuPont – it is clear that his wounds are severe, and that his condition is terminal. She does her best to bind his wounds and make him comfortable. Answering in the affirmative, Ivy pulls the statue out of the bag and shows it to DuPont. He lets out a long sigh.

“Thank god – at first light you must take it and this manuscript (he lifts a bloody hand and points to the papers on the desk) and get out of Steeplin County…you are not safe here.”

Nonplussed, Ivy and Jonas ask DuPont what is so important about the statue.

“Within the statue,” DuPont breaths, “is the Stone of Xnalku – an item that can be used to evoke many different rites…The most sinister ritual will unleash a horrifying creature from its age old prison…The demon, Xnaaki, has been trapped in the Steeplin Lake for a millennium; banished by another of his kind an eon ago… Xnaaki is weak now but if ever the stone and the beast are re-united…”

He trails off into unconsciousness.

Jonas looks at the papers on the desk – they seem to be written in English, as well as another language he is not familiar with. Ivy is equally unsuccessful in determining the second language. It is clear, however, that what they can read is mostly gibberish – obviously written by some lunatic.

Jonas, suddenly remembering that they might be followed, heads outside to check if the coast is clear. Meanwhile, Ivy attends briefly to Ray (whom she helps over to the couch, where he immediately passes out) and then looks about the room. She notices a leather-bound journal on the desk and opens in. Inside is an account of the DuPont family, dating back to the mid-1700’s. There are also scattered entries for specific dates. An entry for June 20th is found at the back of the book.

Booth and I have arrived in Arkham under the cover of darkness. I procured a local residence when I learned about the auction, and with luck will find a number of trust-worthy souls to acquire the statue.

If my information is accurate, $3,000 should be enough to ensure that my agents will have the winning bid.

What happens after that is a matter for fate to decide…

Jonas returns, and Ivy places the journal into the duffel-bag, along with the statue and manuscript. Gurgling blood and labored breathing signal that DuPont has regained consciousness.

“You should be safe in the house tonight…the cult of Xnaaki will be performing rituals all night…they will not know of their failure to procure the statue until morning…Take my car…leave Steeplin County…”

Coughing blood onto Jonas, DuPont continues.

“There are only a handful of madmen crazy enough to worship Xnaaki…the head priest is the Sheriff of this very town…he has little in the way of followers…but with that damned stone…Xnaaki will invade the minds of all but the strongest…”

“I tried to procure the stone to destroy it myself, but I have failed…a ritual is among the pages of the manuscript…destroying the stone is the only way to secure Xnaaki in its prison…to fail is to condemn the world…”

DuPont falls back into unconsciousness.

Ivy looks around the room and notices a map of Steeplin County in a frame above the mantelpiece. Breaking the glass, she rolls up the map and puts it in the duffel-bag. Over the next three hours, Jonas and Ivy take turns napping while the other stands guard.

DuPont’s labored breathing continues until, as five o’clock approaches, he lets out one final, shuddering breath and dies. Moving to the body, Ivy goes through his pocket and finds a roll of twenty dollar bills and a set of keys. She wakes up Jonas and tells him that DuPont has died. Jonas suggests that they take DuPont’s car and the black Buick, and split up the statue and manuscript between the two automobiles. Once they reach Newburyport, they’ll ditch the cars and catch a train to Arkham.

With their plan in place, Ivy and Jonas wake up Ray to let him know what has happened. Ray, who appears unsure of his surroundings, looks at both of them and says, “I’m sorry, you must have me confused with someone else – my name is David Malgresh.”

Ray seems to regard himself as David Malgresh, a botanist from Chicago who is headed east for a symposium on sustainable food sources in New York. Whether joking or not, Ray’s condition is enough to shock and concern both Ivy and Jonas. With time being a factor, however, neither seems too keen on taking a lot of time discuss the matter further, and they humor Ray enough to convince him to go with them.

The investigators make a brief stop in the kitchen to stock up on some food for the drive, and head out of the house to the garage, where DuPont’s Rolls Royce Phantom stands ready for departure. Driving down the main road, they pass the train station and head out of town. Unfamiliar with the surrounding country, Jonas uses the train tracks as a landmark to guide both cars to Newburyport.

Driving roughly a mile past the town of Newburyport, Jonas finds a small lake off the main road. They eat a hasty lunch, empty their belongings from the vehicles, and send them into the water. Picking up their belongings, they walk back towards Newburyport, where they purchase tickets for the next train to Arkham.

The train pulls into Arkham in the early afternoon. The investigators immediately head to the Phillip’s 66 station where Ivy left her Daimler. From there, they travel on foot to Orne Library, where Jonas believes that Dr. Armitage can help them decipher the manuscript. After a brief wait at the front desk, Dr. Armitage appears and greets them. Jonas asks if they can access the Special Collections section to show the head librarian a manuscript they found. Agreeing to look at the text, Dr. Armitage shows the investigators downstairs and lets them in to the now-familiar room.

Dr. Armitage is confident that the other language in the manuscript is Arabic, but suggests that he bring back his colleague, Dr. Francis Morgan, to confirm. When Armitage leaves the room to find his colleague, Ivy and Ray head outside to see if they were followed, while Jonas waits alone with his gun drawn.

Dr. Armitage returns with his colleague nearly twenty minutes later. Dr. Morgan looks through the text and confirms that the unknown passages are written in Arabic. Furthermore, he states that the parchment or fabric that it is written upon appears to be roughly 500 years old, and that the text seems to describe various religions and cults that worshiped heathen gods from an ancient time.

Ivy stresses that it is extremely important that the manuscript be translated. Dr. Morgan agrees to have his staff translate the text, provided that the investigators donate the original manuscript to the university when the translation is complete. The translation will take approximately five days, and will require several graduate students and staff to complete. He asks the investigators to bring the book back on Monday.

Hungry and tired, Ivy, Jonas, and Ray leave the library and look for a place to lodge for the night. On the way, Jonas and Ray feel like they’re being watched; every face on the street seems menacing, and every set of eyes seem to survey them sinisterly. A few blocks from the library, they come to the Tilden Arms Hotel, a shabby but clean three-story building on High Street. Heading inside, they’re able to procure two adjoining rooms on the first floor. Jonas runs out to a local diner to get them dinner, and encounters the same strange feeling of being watched. He cautiously makes his way back to the hotel and the feeling passes.

Poorly fed and increasing paranoid, the investigators ready themselves for an uneasy night. As midnight approaches, Jonas and Ray try to get some much needed rest while ivy sits in her room, looking out into the back alley – rifle in hand.

Wherein the investigators discover that art collection has its drawbacks...

Ivy Morgan, Jonas Markham, and Ray Brannigan awaken early and head down to the dining room at the Shoremist Inn for a hasty breakfast. With an errand to complete before heading to their nine o’clock appointment with Mr. Booth, they scarf down their meal, get in to Ivy’s Daimler, and drive to the Harborside neighborhood, looking for a place to buy fisherman’s waders. They are pointed to Kingsport Village Store by a supervisor at a fish-packing warehouse, and are able to procure the waders and some additional supplies before driving to Arkham

Ivy parks the car a block from the apartment where they are meeting Mr. Booth, and Ray and Jonas conceal their handguns. Walking up to the building, Ivy notices that the curtains are open and lights are on in the lobby. Ray rings the bell – after a few moments, Mr. Booth opens the door and invites the investigators in. He leads them in to a lavishly decorated apartment, and has them sit down in the study. When Booth exits, Ivy lights a cigarette and begins perusing the bookshelves, looking for anything out of the ordinary. A few moments later, Booth returns with coffee, offers the investigators a cup, and exits the room.

After nearly fifteen minutes, a young man walks in to the study, and introduces himself as Henry DuPont, owner of the Steeplin County Mill.

He pauses for a moment. “As Miles has already stated, I wish to employ you to purchase an item rather precious to me.”

DuPont would like the investigators to attend an auction being held by a group of foreign art collectors at the University Exhibit Museum. The majority of the works to be sold is of little value and interest to him. However, he does require one item – the final auction piece, lot number 27. This is an 18-inch statue made from finely crafted stone and inlaid metal. About 100 years old, it is worth approximately fifteen-hundred dollars and depicts Fredric DuPont, Henry’s great grandfather. The statue is of obvious historical importance to the DuPont family and Henry is determined to purchase it.

Unfortunately neither Booth nor he can attend the auction as it is necessary that they are not observed in Arkham. He explains to the investigators that there is nothing sinister about this situation, only that other parties must believe that both Henry and Booth are still at their estate in Steeplin County (a small area north-west of Arkham).

The other party DuPont refers to will also have an agent at the auction who may bid for the statue. However Henry is aware that this person will have only two-thousand dollars available, so he will ensure that the Investigators have three-thousand dollars.

The investigators are to out-bid the other agent for the statue, while Booth and Henry return home unnoticed. After the auction, the Investigators are to travel to Steeplin Valley by train (an eight hour trip) and from there on to the DuPont homestead to return the statue (and any remaining auction funds).

Ivy, speaking for the group, agrees to procure the statue for DuPont. Henry shakes each of their hands, gives Ivy two envelopes, and leaves the room. Opening the envelopes, Ivy sees three-thousand dollars (in one-hundred dollar increments) in one, and three train tickets and thirty dollars cash in the other.

Booth enters the study to take away the coffee. The investigators question him on the seemingly “cloak and dagger” nature of the job, and Booth tells them that the need for discretion stems from DuPont’s fear that his Board of Directors are trying to move against him and take over his company. Henry has been quietly visiting Arkham and New York City (under the guise of being ill and seeking specialized medical treatment) to meet with lawyers, and he cannot be seen by anyone connected with the mill. The investigators (and Ivy, in particular) were chosen because their upper middle-class standing and disassociation with Henry DuPont made them perfect candidates to acquire the statue.

Satisfied with Booth’s explanation, the investigators leave DuPont’s apartment and walk to the car. Ivy, concerned about leaving the Daimler on the street overnight, finds a Phillips 66 station and pays the owner to watch the car. They make their way on foot to the University Exhibit Museum, and are directed to the room where the auction is being held. About twenty-five people are mingling about the room, perusing the various auction items and taking notes. Ivy registers with the auctioneers, while Jonas and Ray split up, attempting to nonchalantly approach the statue. When Jonas reaches the display case, he sees that the statue is roughly eighteen inches tall, and made of a type of stone that he is unfamiliar with. It is also inlaid with a silvery band of metal that appears to be platinum. Looking closely, he notices strange symbols embossed on the base of the statue, which resemble small bugs or insects. With the twelve o’clock start time approaching, the investigators take a seat near the middle of the room.

The auction starts quickly, and the first twenty items are sold off in roughly an hour-and-a-half. However, as the successful bidder walks up to claim lot twenty, the silence is interrupted by horrified screams. Looking back, the investigators see a terrified, elderly woman hurrying down the row, pulling what appears to be a bloody carcass on a leash. The carcass, bouncing up and off the floor in the woman’s haste, hits several people about the head and chest. Bedlam ensues and many of the attendees flee the auction. After nearly twenty minutes, calm is restored and the investigators realize that they are three of only nine people left at the auction. Close to them is a couple who appear to be engaged in a heated, albeit whispered, argument. Three men are huddled in close conversation to the investigators’ right. In the back row sits a large man, wearing a hat and a leather bomber jacket, carrying a leather briefcase.

The remaining items are auctioned off quickly, leaving only the investigators and the man in the back row to bid on the final piece.

“Lot twenty-seven,” begins the auctioneer, “Statue of Frederick DuPont, circa 1815. I will start the bidding at one-thousand dollars.”

The man in the back raises his paddle. Ivy, in turn, raises hers. The bidding continues in one-hundred dollar increments until Ivy raises the bid to twenty-one hundred dollars. Noticing that the man in the back row has stopped bidding, the auctioneer awards the statue to Ivy. Looking back, the investigators see the man mutter something under his breath, stand up, and storm out of the auction in a huff. Ray follows the man out of the room, while Ivy and Jonas walk to the front of the room to claim the statue.

Ray follows the man to the main entrance and out the door. The man walks purposefully to his car, gets in, and drives off quickly. Hurrying down to the street, Ray sees the man turn left on Garrison Street. Unable to follow on foot, Ray returns inside, where he finds Ivy and Jonas walking out, the statue wrapped in Ivy’s jacket.

Realizing that they have only thirty minutes to make the train to Steeplin County, the investigators look for a sporting goods store to purchase a duffel bag for the statue and two fishing pole cases for their rifles (“just in case we need them, of course!”). Once they’ve made their purchases, the group makes their way to the Phillips 66 station to pack their weapons, and then heads up Garrison Street to the train station. Arriving with a few minutes to spare, Ivy, Jonas, and Ray are able to find a quiet cabin at the front of the train.

As the train leaves Arkham and heads north, the scenery turns to gentle hills. A steady rain falls for a few hours, but subsides around six o’clock. Not wanting to leave the statue unattended, Jonas agrees to stay behind while Ivy and Ray go to the dining car. When Ivy and Ray return, Jonas goes for a bite to eat.

On his way back to the cabin, Jonas sees Mr. Booth approaching. Without making eye contact, Booth nonchalantly passes a crumpled piece of paper into Jonas’ hand and continues walking to the dining card. Jonas enters the cabin, sits down with Ivy and Ray, and opens the piece of paper to reveal a note. It reads:

Meet me in the luggage carrier in five minutes…trust no one but DuPont

Ivy throws the duffel bag over her shoulder, and Ray gives Jonas his .38 revolver. Jonas takes the lead with Ray and Ivy following. They make their way through the crowded dining car and another passenger car before they reach the luggage carrier. Cautiously opening the door, Jonas can hear muffled voices and the loud cha-chunk of the train moving on the tracks. Walking in to get a closer look, Jonas sees Booth and another man struggling at the back of the car, near an open cargo door. Before Jonas can react, the man throws Booth through the door and off the train.

“Just give me the statue and no one will get hurt,” he yells. Ray moves down the opposite aisle, .45 revolver at the ready, towards the voice. Ivy stays near the door, looking back to see if anyone has followed them.

The deputy bellow his command a second time, and tells Jonas to lower his weapon. Jonas complies. Ray, however, jumps around the corner and fires at the deputy, grazing his ear. Ivy begins searching the luggage racks for her rifle.

Jonas tries to subdue the deputy to no avail, and Ray fires an errant shot. Ivy finds the fishing pole case holding her rifle and pulls it from the shelf. Ray lunges at the deputy, but is unable to grapple him. The deputy pulls a pouch from his pocket and throws it to the floor. In an explosion of light, both Ray and Jonas are temporarily blinded, and the deputy starts moving towards Ivy.

“Just give me the statue,” the man yells, “and no one will get hurt.”

Ivy opens the door to the passenger car and walks backwards, screaming “help!” as she goes. Turning to her right, she sees a passenger reach up and pull the emergency brake cable. Bracing herself, Ivy manages to stay in one place as the train begins screeching to a halt. Ray, Jonas, and the deputy are not so lucky. Each is flung into the luggage racks – Jonas and Ray losing their handguns in the process. Meanwhile, Ivy moves to the front of the passenger car, looking for an exit from the train.

Unable to see but alert to their surroundings, both Ray and Jonas can hear someone run past them towards the open cargo door. Suddenly regaining their sight, they look around to orientate themselves, and see the deputy jumping from the train. Ivy, who can see the deputy from her vantage point, takes off her heels and jumps to the ground. Ray and Jonas search wildly for their firearms.

The deputy runs towards a line of trees, Ivy giving chase. Jonas finds his gun and jumps from the cargo door to follow. Ray, unable to find his gun anywhere, swears loudly.

Ivy is unable to keep up with the deputy and attempts to mark his progress into the trees. Jonas fires several errant shots at the deputy’s legs, and quickly gives up the chase. Ray, revolver in hand, yells to Ivy and Jonas to return to the train. Defeated, Ivy and Jonas comply.

The three investigators recount their story to the conductor and porter, and agree to give a statement to the police when the train arrives in Newburyport. By the time the train reaches the station and the investigators file their report with the police, it is after nine o’clock – they’ll be lucky if they arrive in Steeplin County before one o’clock in the morning. They head back to their cabin – Ivy to sleep, Ray to clean his guns, and Jonas to wonder what awaits them when they get to their destination.

Wherein the investigators head to Arkham looking for one thing, and end up finding another...

A night of heavy drinking has left Ivy Morgan and Jonas Markham hung over and queasy. Jonas is able to fight back the urge to be sick, though it takes quite an effort before he feels well enough to head downstairs. Ivy, unable to shake the headache and accompanying nausea, vomits vigorously into a pitcher of water on the nightstand. It is nearly ten o’clock when she is able to get dressed and join the other investigators.

Ray Brannigan, seemingly unaffected by the previous evening’s debauchery, wakes up at six o’clock, fresh as a daisy and ready for the day. He sits down in the dining room and is greeted coolly by the landlady, Caroline Wheeden. Suddenly remembering the details of their late-night return to the Shoremist Inn, Ray apologizes profusely to the landlady and she immediately warms to him.

The trip to Arkham is uneventful. Guided by Ray, the investigators quickly find the university campus and the Orne Library. Jonas takes the broken idol from the glove compartment, wraps it in some tissue, and hands it to Ivy to put in her bag. Entering the building, the investigators walk to the front desk and ask for Dr. Armitage. While they are waiting, Ivy notices a nattily-attired, bald and bespectacled man looking at her from one of the card catalogs. She returns his polite smile, and he returns to fingering through the card index.

Eventually, an elderly man whom Ray recognizes as Henry Armitage approaches. Ray greets the Head Librarian and introduces Jonas and Ivy. Jonas pulls the letter of introduction written for him by Rudolph Pearson from his pocket and hands it to Dr. Armitage. The group exchanges brief niceties, and then make their way down to the Special Collections area of the library.

Jonas, taking the broken idol from Ivy and handing it to Dr. Armitage, asks him if he has any idea what it may be. Armitage looks over the statuette for a number of moments and says, “Based on what I can see, it seems that Pearson was right – this looks like an idol used in the worship of an ancient god.”

Dr. Armitage walks to the bookshelf and pulls down a stained, leather tome. Bringing it over to a desk at the center of the room, he undoes the clasp (decorated with what appears to be a human eye) and opens it.

“The author, Friedrich Wilhelm Von Junzt, spent decades traveling the world, documenting various cults and their rituals. In the forests of southern France, he encountered the Shubbe-Mig, a cult that worshiped a perverse fertility god, Shub-Niggurath. Von Junzt describes his observations of the cult, along with their worship and rituals, in the second chapter.”

Dr. Armitage takes a deep breath and continues. “But I must give you the same warning I gave your friend – that the study of such tomes has been known to take an awful toll on the minds of the most learned. You must be careful to not become too engrossed – the consequences could be dire!”

With that, Armitage excuses himself and closes the door behind him.

Ivy and Ray huddle closely around Jonas and begin reading. Almost immediately, they have the same feeling of compulsion that they experienced while reading The Ponape Scriptures. Eventually, Ivy is able to wrench herself away from the text, but Ray and Jonas remain engrossed. Jonas comes across a section describing the Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath, and is immediately drawn to a picture of a horrifying creature that looks eerily similar to the idol he found on his farm. He is further alarmed to read, “They are closely connected to her [Shub-Niggurath], and are found only in areas where she is worshiped.”

Shocked, horrified, and dismayed by the thought that someone or something in Byron, Maine could be worshiping Shub-Niggurath, Jonas begins to feel sick. Looking at his watch, he realizes that nearly three hours have passed. Ivy and Ray urge him to stop reading, but he refuses. Ivy suggests that they get something to eat, and goes to find Dr. Armitage. When the head librarian returns, he is able to convince Jonas to walk away from the book, and he locks up the room and shows the investigators out.

After a hastily eaten lunch at a diner close to the campus, Ivy, Jonas, and Ray return to the library. Jonas notices the well-dressed, bespectacled man Ivy saw earlier in the day, sitting at a desk, watching Ivy intently. The investigators find Dr. Armitage at the front desk, and he leads them back down to the Special Collections area. He removes the leather bound tome from the bookshelf, places it on the desk, and excuses himself.

Ray peruses the bookshelves for other unique texts (finding such scintillating reads as Corpus Hermeticorn, Such Sites, and Hitherto Unknown Protozoa of Neglected, Faraway, or Unknown Lands). Jonas tells Ivy about the man in the library that was watching her. Her interest piqued, Ivy excuses herself and heads upstairs.

After a few moments of searching, Ivy sees the well-dressed man sitting at a desk near the front of the library. He gives her another polite smile and she approaches. The man introduces himself as Miles Booth, and asks if he can have a private moment to speak to Ivy. She agrees, and the two make their way to a more private section of the library.

Booth tells Ivy that he has a business proposition to discuss with her. His employer (“who wishes,” he says, “to remain anonymous”) is in Arkham on business, and will be too busy to attend an auction being held at the University Exhibit Museum the following day. The employer would be willing to pay Ivy and her companions $150 to procure an item for him. Booth hands Ivy $30 cash (“in advance, of course”), and a business card, and asks that she come to the address listed on the card at nine o’clock the following morning. Ivy accepts Booth’s offer and the man quickly and cautiously leaves the library.

Ivy returns downstairs and finds Jonas reading and Ray perusing the bookshelves. She recounts her meeting with the stranger and shows them the business card. Ray and Ivy decide to check out the address listed on the business card in advance of the meeting, while Jonas tries to place a call to his wife in Byron, Maine.

Jonas finds a phone booth close to the library, and Ivy and Ray walk down Walnut Street, searching for the address on the card. They arrive in front of a newly constructed, upscale apartment complex. The curtains are drawn and there is no answer when Ray rings the bell. Walking back up the street towards Jonas, Ivy suggests that they see if the university has any information posted about the auction. Near the library, they find the student union and enter. A university employee confirms that an auction is being held in the museum the following day, and hands Ivy a pamphlet. Scanning the pamphlet, Ivy notices twenty-seven items up for auction: mostly mundane paintings, engravings, pottery, and sculptures.

Ray and Ivy walk back to Jonas, who has been able to contact his wife. He tells them that everything is fine, and that his son is proving a capable head-of-house in his absence. Encouraged by the phone call home, Jonas suggests that they stop for a bite to eat before returning to Kingsport. After dinner, the investigators return to the Shoremist Inn and turn in early.

Wherein the investigators get to the bottom of strange events in Kingsport

The morning finds Ivy Morgan, Jonas Markham, and Ray Brannigan deep in discussion at the breakfast table of the Shoremist Inn. Ivy, convinced that there’s a connection between Mayor Hoag (descendent of Captain Abner Ezekiel Hoag, author of the Ponape Scriptures) and the strange events plaguing Kingsport, wants to go to Town Hall. Jonas and Ray wish to speak to someone in animal control concerning the recent attacks on cats in town. And all three are concerned that something terrible has happened to Julian St. Jerome. At eight o’clock, the investigators jump in Ivy’s Daimler and head downtown.

Entering Town Hall, the group finds that they can kill two birds with one stone. In addition to the mayor’s office, the building also houses Kingsport’s animal control. Ivy, Jonas, and Ray head upstairs to the mayor’s office, and are greeted by a pleasant secretary, who tells them that Mayor Hoag is not going to be in for the day. Heading back downstairs, the investigators stop at animal control and ask about the recent cat attacks. The animal control technician tells them that the tracks that he found at the scene of the attacks were foreign to him, and that the cats seemed broken rather than ravaged. In his opinion, whatever attacked the cats wasn’t looking for food.

Fearing that all their leads are drying up, the investigators go over their options. There doesn’t seem to be any direct correlation between the strange events that have occurred in Kingsport, except that they all seem relegated to the Central Hill neighborhood and, more specifically, Central Hill Cemetery. Something about the cemetery jogs Ivy’s memory and she suddenly remembers the conversation they had with Julian St. Jerome at the cafe on Sunday. He was going to investigate the area around the cemetery while they followed their leads.

The investigators jump back in the Daimler and quickly make their way to Central Hill Cemetery. Finding the gate open, the group enters cautiously and begins looking for signs of Julian St. Jerome. The gravestones are old – in some cases, crumbling or broken away. Twisting vines and ivy have smothered other gravestones completely. The investigators find it very difficult to locate discernible tracks and are about to leave, when Ray notices something out of the corner of his eye – someone is peering at them from behind one of the taller gravestones.

Ray and Jonas give chase, with Ivy following closely behind. Their quarry – a smallish, disheveled looking man, knows his way around the cemetery better than they do, and the investigators lose sight of him a few times. However, they’re able to pick up his trail, and after another brief chase are able to catch him.

The smell of stale alcohol is prevalent on the hobo, whose slurred speech makes him slightly difficult to understand. He tells the investigators that his name is Davy Harris, and he lives in the cemetery. When asked about Julian St. Jerome, Davy offers to give the investigators some information for five dollars. Ray gladly hands over the cash.

He motions the investigators to follow him, and leads them across the cemetery to some gravestones overlooking Church Street. “That’s where he went,” Harris says. “I see him go in there, yesterday and I think I’ll wait for him, and maybe he’ll give me a dollar. He didn’t come out though. I waited till dark and he never came out.” The investigators ask the hobo if he knows who lives in the house, but he does not. He tells them that he used to see a skinny old man come out of the house once in a while, but that was some time ago.

Thanking Davy Harris for the information, Ivy, Jonas, and Ray walk back to the Daimler. Ivy drives around to Church Street and parks at the corner. The investigators grab their weapons from the trunk and walk cautiously towards the house. Jonas walks up to the front doors and turns the knob, but it is locked. He motions the others to follow, and they proceed to the back door, where Jonas is able to quickly pick the lock.

The house is in a horrible state of disrepair. Paint is flaking, wallpaper has come off the walls, and loose and missing floorboards make it difficult to navigate. There is evidence that someone is living in the house – there are open cans of beans on the kitchen counters, and cans of paint in the corner. As the investigators enter the hallway approaching the front door, they see the beginnings of a renovation project that has been left unfinished. To their left is a bathroom and foyer; to their right is a living room.

Walking in to the living room, the investigators find Julian St. Jerome, who is lying dead near the fireplace in a pool of coagulated blood. Next to the body is a blood-stained poker. Jonas hears something odd from the floor above, and motions Ivy and Ray to follow.

At the top of the stairs, they can see two empty bedrooms and a bathroom. From a partially closed door opposite, they can hear a humming noise. Weapons drawn, Ivy opens the door and Ray and Jonas enter. They see a young man in his late twenties, fast asleep on a bed. Above him, a painting has been moved to reveal a small cavity in the wall. On the nightstand is a strange, glowing crystal emitting a low hum. Walking towards the foot of the bed, Ivy notices a leather-bound journal on the floor and picks it up.

Jonas and Ray join Ivy at the foot of the bed, and she walks to the nightstand and picks up the crystal. Suddenly, the man sits up and stares wildly at the investigators. Shocked by the quickness of his action, Ivy is barely able to move out of the way as the man reaches for a butcher knife from under his pillow and slashes at her. Missing Ivy, the man lunges at Ray and slashes at his face, narrowly missing the barber. Ray, quickly becoming quite proficient with a street howitzer, lifts his shotgun and unloads both barrels into the man, spraying his intestines on to the wall behind him.

The room is silent. Jonas runs outside to ask someone to call the police, while Ivy pockets the crystal (which has stopped glowing and humming) and the journal. The investigators wait for Chief Crane to arrive, and then walk him through the house. The dead man is identified as Allen Nash, who recently inherited the home from his uncle. It seems the renovation project proved too much for him, and he must have lost his mind. By all accounts, he bludgeoned Julian St. Jerome with a poker when he came to ask questions the previous day.

After about an hour at the scene, Chief Crane thanks the investigators for their assistance, and tells them they can go after they’ve given their statements to Officers Lord and White. When they’ve given their statements, they head back to Ivy’s car, where she inconspicuously wraps the journal and crystal in some spare clothes and places them in the trunk.

With the rest of the afternoon and evening at their disposal, the investigators head to the Shoremist Inn to change their blood-speckled clothes and then drive downtown. They stop at a local haberdashery to purchase new suits for Ray and Jonas, and then go to a quaint Italian restaurant for dinner.

At the suggestion of the restaurant owner, Oliveri, the investigators drive to The Rope & Anchor Tavern, a poorly-concealed speakeasy located in the Harborside neighborhood. As Ivy, Jonas, and Ray enter, they’re eyed warily by the bartender and his lower-class clientele. The looks soften, however, when Ivy purchases a round of drinks for the bar. Looking around at the patrons, Jonas and Ray realize that their rubber coats and waders would be perfect for protecting the investigators from splattering blood and entrails. They spend the next few hours discussing where to purchase the outfits, as well as their plans for the following day.

Last call finds all three investigators too drunk to drive (but eager to try). They fight over the car keys and find themselves taking turns behind the wheel of Ivy’s Daimler; Ray drives up on a lawn, Jonas backs the car into a light post, and Ivy knocks down a picket fence. With the prospect of irate locals contacting the police motivating her, Ivy is able to master her faculties and carefully navigate back to the Shoremist Inn, where the landlady, Caroline Wheeden, reluctantly lets them in and mutters something about the the evils of drink.

Still stunned by the events of the previous evening, Ivy Morgan, Jonas Markham, and Ray Brannigan head down to breakfast and are greeted by the landlady, Caroline Weeden, who hands Ivy a copy of the Kingsport Chronicle and heads back to the kitchen. Skimming the front page, Ivy’s attention is immediately drawn to the headline, IT CAMEFROMABOVE! Bizarre disappearances terrorize Kingsport. Written by Julian St. Jerome, the article reports that numerous citizens were taken from the sky by, “some sinister, sky-snatching predator.” Surprised that the reporter has not tried to attribute the disappearances to something weather-related (or more rational, for that matter), she shows the article to Jonas and Ray and suggests that they pay a visit to the Chronicle.

After breakfast, the investigators head to the center of town, where they quickly find the offices of the Kingsport Chronicle. As they approach the front door, they can hear shouting from within. Entering, they find themselves in the middle of raging argument. At one end of the room stands a thin, wiry bespectacled man in his mid-twenties; at the other, an enraged, harried man with slightly graying hair.

As the young man passes the investigators, he and Ray make eye contact. Instantly, Ray recognizes him as one of the tenants he breakfasted with at Mother Gamble’s Boarding House.

The blustering, middle-aged man looks at the investigators and says, “Who the hell are you?”

Ivy introduces herself and politely inquires his name. The man introduces himself as Stanley Carter, Editor-in-Chief of the Kingsport Chronicle.

After a few moments of deep breathing, he calms down enough to tell the investigators that Julian St. Jerome, the reporter he just fired, tricked the printing room into running the front-page story seen in today’s Chronicle. Carter likes St. Jerome and thinks he’s talented. However, Carter believes he can be overzealous in his reporting, and is prone to fits of sensationalist journalism. It’s for this reason that Carter’s had to edit the majority of Julian’s recent stories, and why he had to terminate his employment.

Ivy attempts to defend St. Jerome for trying to report on what’s really happening in Kingsport, but only succeeds in enraging Stanley Carter further. He begins yelling about, “PERFECTLYRATIONALEXPLANATIONSFOREVERYTHING,” and, “NOTUPSETTINGTHEPEOPLE OF KINGSPORTWITHRUMORANDCONJECTURE!” His face red and seething with anger, Carter orders the investigators off his premises.

Walking back to the car, the three pass an outdoor cafe and notice Julian St. Jerome sitting at a table. He signals to Ray to come over, and he, Ivy, and Jonas approach. Confirming that he knows Ray from Mother Gamble’s, St. Jerome apologizes for them having to witness the scene at the Chronicle (“Carter wouldn’t know a real story if it sat in his lap!”). When the investigators press him for information about strange events in Kingsport, St. Jerome begins speaking with a hungry look in his eyes.

“There’s something going on in Central Hill,” explains St Jerome. “This week I have reported on four different stories, all with some kind of strange angle to them, all within a few hundred yards of Central Hill Cemetery.”

“I don’t know if you’ve been reading the paper, but apart from that story last night, which got me fired, there was a fire at St. Francis Catholic Church – I have witness accounts that talk about a demon, if you can believe that; then there was a weird occurrence in the middle of the week where something ripped apart eight cats in a couple of hours – the story Carter printed suggested a wolverine, but again, witnesses told me otherwise.”

“Then back on Wednesday night there was some weird sort of break-in at the Library – except nobody broke in. The place was locked up tight as a drum and someone or something got in and trashed the place. I got a look at it and it was like a chimpanzee or something had run riot in there for the whole night – one hell of a mess!”

“I tried to convince Carter that there’s a pattern, but he won’t even listen – says I’ve got a, ‘wild imagination, not commensurate with my standing as member of the Press.’ I guess he’s right; I shouldn’t be working for a small-minded small-town rag like the Chronicle.”

“Anyway,” he says, finally drawing breath, “how can I help you – or maybe you can help me?”

Julian St. Jerome offers the investigators a 50/50 split in the profits of the sale of the story to a major newspaper if they assist him in getting to the bottom of the strange events in Kingsport. He tells the investigators that he plans to visit the cemetery and surrounding area to see what he can find. He suggests that the investigators look in to any leads they may have, and meet him back at the Sea’s Harvest at eight o’clock that evening to compare notes. Wishing them good luck, Julian stands up from the table and leaves the cafe.

With midday quickly approaching, the investigators decide to visit St. Francis Catholic Church to see if they can find any clues. The church is almost entirely gutted, and portions of the floor are too badly burnt and unstable to walk upon. Looking into the basement through the hole that Father Alighiero claims the demon came through, Ivy, Jonas, and Ray can see the charred remains of hundreds of prayer books and hymnals. Packed nearly to the ceiling, it would not be difficult to believe that faulty wiring could quickly ignite a hot, quick-burning fire.

Unable to get a closer look at the basement of the church, the investigators weigh their options. Ivy, wanting to find out if the mysterious fog or other strange events have even been reported in Kingsport in the past, suggests they look for the local historical society. Ray and Jonas, neither of whom can come up with a better idea, agree, and the three jump back in the car.

After nearly an hour of driving about town, the investigators stop in front of the Kingsport Historical Society Museum on Carter Street. Entering, they notice an elderly man wandering about, watering the plants. Ivy clears her throat to get the man’s attention, and introduces herself. He introduces himself as Aaron Hart, museum curator. Ivy begins to ask him questions about strange events in Kingsport’s past, but quickly realizes that the curator is showing signs of senility. However, he seems lucid enough to tell the investigators that they are unable to access the museum library and periodicals without paying fifteen dollars for an associate membership. Ivy and Ray pay the curator fifteen dollars each, and after a few minutes are handed back membership cards in the name of Ivan Moran and Ralph Pennington. Ivy and Ray take their cards and begin walking upstairs to the museum library. Jonas, who has just noticed that the curator has a revolver conspicuously tucked in the back of his trousers, decides to stay downstairs to keep an eye on the old man.

Ivy begins poring over years of bound Kingsport Chronicles, while Ray peruses the bookshelves for some account of the town’s history. He comes across an old, cracked leather-bound tome entitled The Ponape Scriptures. He calls Ivy over and the two begin skimming the faded, yellowing pages. The book is an account of a journey Captain Abner Ezekiel Hoag and his crew made to the Caroline Islands sometime around 1734. Hoag describes a tribe of natives that worship an underwater deity, and the rituals they performed to summon denizens from the deep. Enthralled by the tome, both Ivy and Ray find it difficult to stop reading. By sheer power of will, Ray is able to remove his eyes from the text and pull Ivy away. Looking at his watch, Ray realizes that nearly five hours have past.

Heading down stairs, Ivy and Ray see Jonas sitting in a chair, watching Aaron Hart walk about the museum watering plants that he’d watered fifteen minutes earlier. They call a polite farewell to the curator and leave the museum. Not wishing to be late for their meeting with Julian St. Jerome, the investigators make their way to the Sea’s Harvest.

Eight o’clock comes and goes as the investigators sit at a table at the back of the restaurant, without a sign of Julian St. Jerome. Ivy seems convinced that something sinister has happened to the reporter. Ray and Jonas are content waiting a while longer for St. Jerome to arrive. By nearly ten o’clock, the investigators are all concerned. Ray suggests that they stop by Mother Gamble’s Boarding House to see if Julian made it home safely.

Eager to know St. Jerome’s fate, the investigators jump in the Daimler and head towards Mother Gamble’s. As they turn on to Circle Court, Ivy slams on the breaks. Fifty feet in front of them is a horrible scene – a giant spider web blocks the street. A taxi is caught in the web, its engine still running; two passengers and the cabbie are trying to extricate themselves from the vehicle. Horrified onlookers stand shocked, rooted to the ground like statues, as an enormous purple spider moves across the web towards the cab. Acting quickly, Ivy leaves the vehicle and runs towards the taxi. Ray, grabbing his twelve-gauge shotgun, follows. Jonas reaches for his rifle and approaches cautiously.

Within moments, Ivy is pulling the passengers from the taxi. The driver, not looking where he’s going, exits the cab and backs into the web. Ray raises the shotgun and fires; the unharmed spider notices Ray, jumps off the web, and moves towards him. Jonas, the shock of seeing a giant spider in the street too much for his fragile psyche, stands frozen.

Ivy moves the passengers to safety, and runs towards the stunned onlookers. The cabby struggles, further entangling him in the web. Ray retreats while unloading both barrels of his shotgun into the spider. Jonas is a statue.

The spider lunges and shoots a web at Ray, narrowly missing the barber. Ivy pulls the stunned onlookers to safety and makes her way to the cab driver. Ray hides behind the car, loading his weapon, while Jonas stares blankly.

Ivy pulls out a knife and starts cutting the cabby’s clothes off. Ray shoots the spider, knocking it back a few feet. The spider, seeing Jonas close by, entangles the farmer in a web. Jonas, finally in control of his faculties, finds himself unable to fire the rifle stuck to his side and retreats.

Ivy cuts through the cabby’s shirt and begins to slice through his pants. Ray moves towards the web, reloading his shotgun. The spider shoots a web around Ray’s legs, knocking him over. With the use of only one hand, Jonas crouches behind a tree, desperately trying to rip through his bindings.

Ivy frees the cabby while Ray, flat on the ground with the enormous spider moving closer, carefully aims the shotgun at its head. Unleashing the fury of the twelve-gauge at close range, Ray watches the spider’s eye clusters explode in a torrent of green ooze. The beast falls to the ground and all is silent.

Jonas is finally able to rip through his bonds, and with Ivy approaches Ray, who has cut his trousers to extricate himself from the webs around his legs. As the three walk towards the carcass of the spider, it blinks out of existence, leaving only the web across Circle Court. The silence is suddenly broken by the sound of approaching police sirens. The investigators have no time to leave the scene or agree to a cover-story before the police car screeches to a halt.

Officers Steven Lord, Otis White, and another man exit the police car. The man, who is middle-aged, barrel-chested, and wearing a police uniform, calmly delegates tasks to the other officers and walks towards the investigators. He identifies himself as Chief Crane and asks Ivy what happened. She attempts to provide a quick cover-story that would make the scene seem perfectly rational. He gives Ivy and the other investigators an appraising look and walks to the web blocking the street.

After walking up and down the web, periodically taking out a pen and touching the sticky substance, he looks briefly at the taxi and walks back to the investigators. “Why don’t you come back with me to the station, where we can speak privately,” he says, calmly. After telling officers Lord and White to get statements from all witnesses, Crane gets in the Daimler with the investigators drives to the station.

At the station, Chief Crane pours coffee for everyone and sits in his chair. “Why don’t you start by telling me why there’s a gigantic spider web across Circle Court,” he begins, “and then you can tell me what is going on.”

In turn, each investigator tells the Chief about their encounter with the spider, as well as their belief that it may be connected with other recent, strange events in Kingsport. Crane listens to each calmly and quietly, and chooses his words carefully when he speaks.

“I believe you,” he says. “Unfortunately, I don’t think this is something that the Kingsport police department can handle alone, and we’d like to avoid any outside involvement.”

“You see, we’re a proud town. We don’t like getting Arkham involved in our problems if we can avoid it. If you would consent to help me get to the bottom of these strange occurrences, I will provide my cooperation and any resources you may need. In the meantime, I’ll need to meet with Mayor Hoag and let him know the situation.”

The name Hoag seems to jog Ray and Ivy’s memories. Ray asks Chief Crane if Mayor Hoag was related to Captain Abner Ezekiel Hoag. Taken aback but nonetheless impressed, Crane answers in the affirmative. Coming to the realization that there may be a connection between the name Hoag and the events of the last week, the investigators warn the police chief to be careful and make a mental note to visit the mayor the following day.

Chief Crane rises from his chair. “I’ve asked for your assistance and have promised you resources, but our arrangement will be short-lived if you end up on the wrong side of the law. Please, don’t betray my trust, and make sure to contact me directly if things get out of hands.”

Taking their leave of Chief Crane, the investigators make their way to Mother Gamble’s Boarding House to see if Julian St. Jerome made it home safely. The house is dark when they arrive; Mother Gamble’s nine o’clock curfew is nearly two hours old. Not wanting to wake the stern landlady and uncertain of what room St. Jerome was renting, the investigators try to make their way around the perimeter of the house stealthily. Unfortunately, the extreme dark and lack of familiarity with their surroundings leads to the investigators to make an unholy clamor, which wakes the landlady and some of the tenants. When Mother Gamble comes outside to confront the investigators, Ivy tries to convince her to check in on Julian St. Jerome. But when the landlady sees Ray Brannigan, she becomes enraged and storms in to the house to call the police.

Within minutes, Chief Crane is on the scene, pulling the investigators aside to chastise them for getting into trouble within a half hour of their last conversation. He believes that he can convince Mother Gamble to drop her complaint, but insists that the investigators return to the Shoremist Inn to avoid further trouble. Not wishing to get on the wrong side of Chief Crane, the investigators comply.

Wherein the investigators become aware that all is not right in Kingsport

As midnight descends upon the small port town of Kingsport, Ivy Morgan, Jonas Markham, and Ray Brannigan are in Ivy’s room discussing the fire at St. Francis Catholic Church. Concerned about stories they’ve read in the Kingsport Chronicle (particularly about a recent break-in at the local library), the three decide to sneak out of the Shoremist Inn to investigate the library under the cover of night. Unfortunately, the squeaking doors and creaking floors make it difficult to stealthily exit the boarding house without waking the owner, Caroline Weeden. Disappointed, the investigators decide to go to sleep rather than arouse suspicion.

A thick fog lays over the town as Ivy, Jonas, and Ray exit the inn shortly after dawn. The unseasonable chill in the air makes it feel like early March rather than mid June. The investigators drive to Mother Gamble’s Boarding House, where Ray picks up his things and checks out of his room (Mother Gamble is not disappointed to see the curfew-breaker leaving her home). From there, they travel to the center of town, where Ray had spotted the closed and padlocked library. Walking up inconspicuously, Ivy can read the Closed for Repairs sign on the front entrance. They all notice that the police and fire stations are located directly next to the library. Satisfied with their reconnaissance and unable to navigate the town through the soupy fog, the investigators return to the Shoremist Inn.

Jonas is reading the Chronicle’s account of the St. Francis Church fire, when a knock at the door interrupts the evening meal. The landlady brings two police officers in to the dining room – one is tall, handsome, and polite; the other seems surly and preoccupied by something in his ear. The handsome officer addresses Ivy and introduces himself as Steven Lord, and the other as Otis White. It seems that Father Allighiero, who has been in and out of consciousness since the fire, has asked to speak to Ivy and Jonas. Officer Lord is aware that Father Allighiero is being moved to Massachusetts General Hospital on Monday, and suggests that she and Jonas go to visit him as soon as possible. Officer White probes his inner ear vigorously with his index finger.

Grabbing Ray and jumping in the Daimler, Ivy and Jonas carefully navigate the fog-obscured street and make their way to Congressional Hospital. Inside, they are shown to Father Allighiero’s bedside. The priest is in a pitiful state, with nearly half his body covered in blackened burns. The investigators stay close to his bedside, listening to him periodically babble in Italian (“è un demone nella chiesa”). Suddenly, Father Allighiero grabs Jonas by the shirt and opens his eyes.

“It was a demon! A DEMON! It came through the floor and attacked me! God is punishing me for what I’ve done! PUNISHING ME!”

With that, the priest slackens his grip on Jonas and passes out.

Unable to get another coherent word out of Father Allighiero, the investigators walk back to the car. As they cross the road, Ivy and Jonas see something shoot down from the sky at Ray. Looking up, they notice what appears to be a rapidly moving cloud (or pseudopod?) with numerous writhing and protruding tentacles. Suddenly, another tentacle grabs for Ivy. A young nurse, walking from the parking lot to the hospital, stands in the street looking skyward, frozen in terror. Jonas attempts to reach the woman, but she is snatched from the ground by a misty tentacle and pulled into the sky. She disappears from view, and the investigators race back in to the hospital.

Ivy, Jonas, and Ray stand in the hospital entrance, looking up at the rapidly moving cloud formation. As if turned off by a switch, the fog suddenly breaks, revealing a warm, muggy evening. From the front desk, the investigators hear a nurse yelling for someone to call the police. Within minutes, officers Lord and White are on the scene, taking statements from Ivy, Jonas, Ray, and the rest of the hospital staff. After nearly an hour, the investigators are allowed to leave.

Eager to investigate the Kingsport Library, Ivy, Jonas, and Ray head back to the center of town, where they plan to eat dinner and wait for darkness to fall. Stopping at a restaurant called the Sea’s Bounty, they are greeted by a raucous crowd who is buzzing about the rumored disappearance of several townsfolk. Listening intently, the investigators hear similar stories – something came out of the sky and snatched up some local residents. As the evening progresses, the crowd dwindles until Ivy, Jonas, and Ray are the last patrons. Wishing the proprietor well, they leave the Sea’s Bounty and quickly and quietly make their way to the library.

Pulling the locksmith’s tools from his jacket, Jonas is able to make quick work of the padlock. Ray stations himself as a lookout at the front doors while Ivy keeps an eye on the police station. Heading cautiously through the library, flashlight in hand, Jonas can immediately tell that vandals had nothing to do with the damage within. Several tables are broken in two, and bookshelves look to have been clawed into pieces. Amazingly, several sections of the library appear to have avoided damage completely. Wondering if there’s a connection between the areas of the library that were damaged, Jonas calls Ray (who asks Ivy to watch the front doors) in to investigate further, but they are unable to find a connection – the damage seems random.

With ten o’clock quickly approaching and no immediate idea of how to proceed, the investigators decide to head back to the Shoremist Inn and continue their investigation the following day.

Wherin Paths Converge in Kingsport, Massachusetts

Ray Brannigan wakes at six o’clock. He quickly washes, brushes his teeth, and puts on a new suit. After studying a map of the area to determine the quickest route to Arkham, Ray grabs the letter of introduction he received from Rudolph Pearson and heads down to breakfast.

Mother Gamble looks at Ray reproachfully as he sits down at the table. Preoccupied, he takes no notice; choosing instead to skim through the local paper and drink his coffee. The other boarders come and go over the next hour and at eight o’clock Ray rises from the table and heads out the door.

Heading north on Bluff Road in his Model T truck, Ray makes the three-mile trip to Arkham quickly. He stops briefly to get directions to Miskatonic University, and finds the campus near the center of town. Situated off the corner of College and Garrison streets is the Orne Library. Entering, Ray seeks out a librarian and asks to speak to Dr. Henry Armitage.

After a brief wait, an old, bespectacled man approaches Ray and introduces himself as Dr. Armitage. Shaking his hand, Ray reaches into his suit pocket, pulls out the letter of introduction, and hands it to the head librarian. Armitage skims the letter, inquires about Professor Pearson’s well-being, and shows Ray downstairs to the lower level.

Leading Ray through a labyrinth of bound periodicals and old reference books, Dr. Armitage approaches a door. Producing a key, he unlocks it and leads Ray through to the Special Collections room. While not overly large, the room contains a few bookshelves, desks, and chairs. The manuscripts and tomes on the bookshelves appear old and, in most cases, handwritten. Armitage walks over to one of the bookshelves and removes a stained, leather tome. He undoes a large bronze clasp, decorated with what appears to be a human eye, and opens the book.

“I must warn you, Mr. Brannigan,” begins Dr. Armitage, “that the study of such tomes has been known to take an awful toll on the minds of the most learned.”

Taken aback, Ray tries to digest the warning as Armitage continues. “It is said that the book’s author, Friedrich Wilhelm Von Junzt, was found strangled in a locked and bolted chamber shortly after the book’s publication.”

Realizing that diving headlong in to an occult tome with an evil reputation may not be the best idea, Ray tells Dr. Armitage to close the book and place it back on the shelf. Remembering the reason he came to Arkham to begin with, Ray asks Dr. Armitage if anyone else has recently presented a letter of introduction from Rudolph Pearson (“A gentleman from Maine, or a young woman from New York City, perhaps?”). Ray is disappointed to learn that neither Jonas Markham nor Ivy Morgan has visited the Orne Library. Thanking Dr. Armitage for his time, Ray leaves the Special Collections room and walks back to his truck.

Ray drives around Arkham aimlessly for a few hours, unsure of what exactly he’s looking for. Discouraged and downtrodden, he returns to Kingsport. Around five o’clock, Ray notices a pillar of smoke rising in the distance. Driving towards it, he eventually stops in front of a burning church that is being gutted by a devastatingly hot fire. Exiting his vehicle, Ray sees police and firemen surrounded by a throng of shocked and horrified townsfolk. A nearby sign reads St. Francis Catholic Church.

Meanwhile, Ivy Morgan and Jonas Markham have noticed that the round-the-clock police surveillance on the Shoremist Inn has ceased. The trip back to New York City is a long one. A trip to Miskatonic University, mere miles from Kinsgport, won’t prove fruitful until classes resume Monday. The two agree to spend one more night in town.

Heading down to the dining room shortly after five o’clock, Ivy and Jonas are greeted cheerfully by the landlady, Caroline Weeden, who serves up a very tasty seafood chowder. She gives them each a glass of milk and some hearty bread, and asks if they’d like a copy of today’s Kingsport Chronicle to read.

Perusing the local paper, Ivy notices an obituary for Sister Evangeline. She wonders silently if she and Jonas should pay their respects, but decides against it, based on their last meeting with Father Alighiero (and two of Kingsport’s finest).

Jonas is reading an article buried in the middle of the paper, when he hears the sound of bells in the distance. The bells get louder and louder until they cannot be mistaken. Going to the window, Jonas notices a fire truck pass with a police car following. Running behind appears to be several local residents carrying buckets of splashing and sloshing water.

With Ivy following closely behind, Jonas runs outside to find out the cause of the hullabaloo. Stopping a local resident, he and Ivy find out that there is a fire at St. Francis Catholic Church. Shocked, they jump in to Ivy’s Daimler and speed towards the pillar of smoke.

As they pull up to the church, Ivy and Jonas can see that it has been gutted by a major fire. Firemen work feverishly alongside local volunteers to put out the remaining blaze, while two policemen patrol the area to control the crowd of onlookers who have gathered at the scene.

Stepping up on the running boards, Jonas is able to see over the crowd. He notices what appears to be three bodies, presumably dead, covered in white sheets over by the convent. Two paramedics are moving a forth body on to a stretcher.

Motioning Ivy to follow him, Jonas walks over to the ambulance to get a better look. Amid the sobs of horrified onlookers, Jonas and Ivy hear a police officer ordering bystanders to get out of the way. Through the crowd, Jonas and Ivy see the injured person being loaded in to the ambulance – it is Father Dario Allighiero. Badly burnt but still alive, he is raving in Italian.

“è un demone nella chiesa,” he repeats over and over again.

The doors close and the ambulance pulls away.

Walking back to the car, Jonas notices that one of the policemen he and Ivy encountered on Tuesday is patrolling the crowd. Ivy walks up to the policeman, offers him a cigarette, and asks what happened.

“Looks like a fire, miss.” he says sarcastically, digging his finger into his ear. “Why don’t you mind your own beeswax?”

Realizing that she’s not going to be able to get a closer look at the fire, or the victims near the convent, Ivy begins to look through the crowd. She is surprised to see Ray Brannigan among the throng, and announces his presence to Jonas. Soon, the three are reunited and begin to quietly discuss their adventures over the last few days.

When the fire has been put out and the crowd begins to disperse, Ivy, Jonas, and Ray decide to head back to the Shoremist Inn to talk privately. Ivy and Jonas tell Ray about their experiences in The Dremlands, and their encounters with Sister Evangeline and Father Alighiero. Ray tells Ivy and Jonas about his meeting with Rudolph Pearson, his trip to Kingsport, and his visit to Miskatonic University. When the landlady finally retires, Ivy and Jonas sneak Ray upstairs and the three continue their conversation in to the night.